Klapper W, Kühne K, Singh K K, Heidorn K, Parwaresch R, Krupp G
Institute for Hematopathology, Center for Pathology and Applied Cancer Research, Christian-Albrechts-Universität Kiel, Germany.
FEBS Lett. 1998 Nov 13;439(1-2):143-6. doi: 10.1016/s0014-5793(98)01357-x.
Mammals have high growth rates in embryonic and juvenile phases and no growth in adult and senescent phases. We analyzed telomerase activity in a fundamentally different animal which grows indeterminately. Lobsters (Homarus americanus) grow throughout their life and the occurrence of senescence is slow. A modified TRAP assay was developed and the lobster telomeric repeat sequence TTAGG was determined. We detected telomerase activities which were dependent on RNA and protein components, required dGTP, dATP and dTTP, but not dCTP. Telomerase products with a five nucleotide periodicity were generated. High telomerase activities were detected in all lobster organs. We conclude that telomerase activation is a conserved mechanism for maintaining long-term cell proliferation capacity and preventing senescence, not only in cellular models or embryonic life stages but also in adult multicellular organisms.
哺乳动物在胚胎期和幼年期生长速率高，成年期和衰老期则不生长。我们分析了一种生长模式完全不同且能无限生长的动物的端粒酶活性。龙虾（美洲螯龙虾）终生生长，衰老进程缓慢。我们开发了一种改良的端粒重复扩增法（TRAP），并确定了龙虾的端粒重复序列TTAGG。我们检测到的端粒酶活性依赖于RNA和蛋白质成分，需要dGTP、dATP和dTTP，但不需要dCTP。产生了具有五个核苷酸周期的端粒酶产物。在龙虾的所有器官中都检测到了高活性的端粒酶。我们得出结论，端粒酶激活是一种保守机制，不仅在细胞模型或胚胎生命阶段，而且在成年多细胞生物体中，都能维持长期的细胞增殖能力并防止衰老。
